Five-star Niaz helps Peshawar take slim lead against Sialkot in QAT final – Sport

KARACHI: Fast bowler Niaz Khan picked up five wickets to help Peshawar bundle out Sialkot for 245 on the second day of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy final here at the UBL Sports Complex on Friday.

Peshawar in their first inn­ings on Friday had posted 258.

Pacer Mohammad Amir Khan backed up Niaz’s 5-61 show with three wickets for 38 runs in 21 overs.

Niaz, who sent down 26 overs in the innings, took his tally of wickets to 35 in the tournament — second best to Musa Khan (38) — with his fourth first-class five-for.

Sialkot lost prolific opener Azan Awais (18) and Ashir Mehmood (five) early in the first session with 38 runs on the board in 14.3 overs after resuming from their overnight score of eight for no loss.

At this juncture, Moha­mmad Huraira (55 off 127 balls) joined Mohsin Riaz (57 off 130 balls) as they added 102 runs for the third wicket off 33.1 overs.

With Huraira’s departure in the 48th over, Sialkot started sliding losing their last seven wickets for just 105 runs.

Batting at No.6, Ahsan Hafeez Bhatti chipped in with 26 and Shahzaib Bhatti’s 47-ball 40 helped Sialkot erase much of the deficit.

Apart from the pace duo of Niaz and Amir, skipper Sajid Khan claimed one wicket.

Peshawar, in their second innings, faced just one over before the close of play scoring five runs.

SCOREBOARD

PESHAWAR (1st Innings) 258

SIALKOT (1st Innings, overnight 8-0):

Mohammad Hurraira lbw b Amir 55

Azan Awais c Abuzar b Niaz 18

Ashir Mehmood b Amir 5

Mohsin Riaz c Sahibzada b Niaz 57

Mohammad Waleed run out 0

Ahsan Hafeez c Abuzar b Amir 26

Amad Butt c Sahibzada b Niaz 10

Afzal Manzoor c Nabi b Sajid 11

Shahzaib Bhatti c & b Niaz 40

Shoaib Akhtar not out 6

Ali Raza b Niaz 0

EXTRAS (B-10, LB-5, NB-1, W-1) 17

TOTAL (all out, 85 overs) 245

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-33, 2-38, 3-140, 4-144, 5-146, 6-168, 7-198, 8-198, 9-245

BOWLING: Sajid 24-2-89-1, Niaz 26-8-61-5, Hilal 11-3-29-0 (1w), Amir 21-10-38-3 (1nb), Israrullah 3-0-13-0

PESHAWAR (2nd Innings):

Sahibzada Farhan not out 1

Maaz Sadaqat not out 4

EXTRAS 0

TOTAL (for no wicket, one over) 5

STILL TO BAT: Israrullah, Nabi Gul, Mehran Ibrahim, Zubair Khan, Abuzar Tariq, Sajid Khan, Niaz Khan, Mohammad Amir Khan, Hilal Ahmed

BOWLING: Shoaib 1-0-5-0

Published in Dawn, January 4th, 2025